McCain Phones It In

"It's not my style to simply phone it in." -John McCain

Did Bill Maher Know Sarah Palin Would Be VP Pick?

Where is the GOP Leadership?

This is why I love Rachel Maddow. While most other cable news pundits are busy asking Democrats what they think about what the Republicans just said about them and vice versa, Rachel has actual, original insights.

While others were busy "reporting" that House Representatives failed to approve a Wall Street bailout bill due to hurt feelings as if that was a legitimate excuse, Rachel was busy thinking, "Why is that a legitimate excuse? And how did things turn out so differently from what most were saying just a day or two before?"

Time for McLame to Ride In On His Hobby Horse?

Sarah Palin Quote Generator

"I see our country being able to represent those things who's more apt to be talking about solutions and victory in the war, you can't blink." — Sarah Palin Fictional Quote Generator v1.0

Full Palin/Couric Interview

Veterans for Obama

New Generation Veterans for Obama



Veterans Rate the Debate



Virginia Veterans for Obama

TDS: Clusterfuck to the Poor House

A Stronger Economy

The McChicken Flies Home to Roost

But I don' wanna debate! Waaaaaaaaaaaa!


In all seriousness, I'm sure it's because McLiar is putting country firs— oh, wait.
I forgot.
He's McLiar.

Since exactly when does a selfless act like putting country first and setting aside partisan politics in a time of crisis need talking points?!

But anyway, surely Sarah Palin could campaign in McTailbetweenhislegs's place, couldn't she?


Free Sarah Palin!


Or Maybe Not!

Palin: It's my understanding that Rick Davis has recused himself from the dealings in that firm...and that he's not benefitting from that. You know, I would hope that that's the case.
Couric: But he still has a stake in the company so isn't that a conflict of interest?
Palin: [long —one is tempted to say "pregnant"— pause] [restates first comment]

*ABORT! ABORT!*

I mean, *ABSTAIN! ABSTAIN!*

The interview goes downhill from there. This woman is not ready for the big time. (Trivia bonus: I counted twelve dropped Gs in that five minute interview. I think I'm goin' crazy!)

But maybe that's too harsh. She's such a nice churchgoing type...

Holy Flying Spaghetti Monster! McCain wants to put this loon in the White House?! What kind of fucking idiot believes in witch hunting in this day and age?

Judgement: Campaign suspended just in the nick of time!

Would This Be a Bad Time to Bring Up the Keating Five?

The more things change, the more they stay the same, apparently. Thomas Frank of the Wall Street Journal says, in part,

Last week, Republican presidential candidate John McCain called for a commission to "find out what went wrong" on Wall Street. It was an excellent suggestion: Public inquiries into Wall Street practices served the country well in the 1930s.

And Mr. McCain has a special advantage to bring to any such investigation -- many of the relevant witnesses are friends or colleagues of his. In fact, he can probably get to the bottom of the whole mess just by cross-examining the people riding on his campaign bus. So the candidate should take a deep breath, remind himself that the country comes first, pull the Straight Talk Express over at a rest stop, whistle up his media pals, and begin.

Midweek Roundup

McCain's really bad week:


Let's play "Wall Street Bailout!"


McCain protects CEOs' Bermuda tax shelter.


Dick Cheney Episode II

It seems the McCain campaign can't even whine without telling lies. And Politico calls BullSchmidt.

Remember the 312 days Palin charged taxpayers to stay in her own house? It seems after you deduct these days from the time she's been governor, Palin was rarely at work. Her absence during a special session of the legislature —that Palin herself called— causing one person to make special buttons asking "Where's Sarah?"

McCain lied again? Seems Rick Davis has received payments of $15,000 a month from Freddie Mac right up through last month, despite McCain's claim that Davis has not been involved with it for the last several years.

Time to Invest in Torches and Pitchforks?

I normally detest copy-and-pasting entire print articles into blog entries, but I think there's no other way to do this justice.

CEO pay: What those involved in the financial meltdown made

East Bay Business Times - by Mike Sunnucks and Chris Casacchia

As Congress considers a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street and the banking sector, there are calls to restrict the pay and severance packages for CEOs at investment houses, banks and mortgage lenders poised to be benefit from the plan put forward by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.

Executives from some of the major investment and commercial banks involved in the financial upheaval and bailout earned hefty paychecks last year, according to proxy statements outlining their salaries, bonuses and stock options:



Lehman Brothers Chairman and CEO Richard Fuld Jr. made $34 million in 2007. Lehman (OTC: LEHMQ) filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection earlier this month.


Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), which Sunday gained Federal Reserve Bank approval to become a bank holding company, paid its chairman and CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, $70 million last year. Co-Chief Operating Officers Gary Cohn and Jon Winkereid were paid $72.5 million and $71 million, respectively.


American International Group’s chief executive, Martin Sullivan, got a $14 million compensation package in 2007. He was ousted in June. The insurance giant (NYSE:AIG) is on the receiving end of an $85 billion federal bailout. Edward Liddy took over as AIG’s chief executive earlier this month.


Morgan Stanley Chairman John Mack earned $1.6 million. Chief Financial Officer Colin Kelleher got a $21 million paycheck in 2007. Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) also received approval to become a banking holding company, a shift that allows Morgan and Goldman to bring in bank deposit assets which offer more-solid financial footing.


Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain was paid $17 million in salary, bonuses and stock options in 2007. Merrill (NYSE: MER) is being acquired by Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). BofA CEO Kenneth Lewis earned $25 million in 2007.


JP Morgan Chase & Co. Chairman and CEO James Dimon earned $28 million in 2007. Chase (NYSE: JPM) acquired troubled investment house Bear Stearns earlier this year with the federal government promising to take on as much as $30 billion in Bear assets to help get the deal done.


Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd received $11.6 million in 2007. His counterpart at Freddie Mac, Richard Syron, brought in $18 million. The federal government announced earlier this month it was taking over the mortgage backers with Herbert Allison to serve as Fannie CEO and David Moffett the new CEO at Freddie.


Wachovia Corp. Chairman and CEO G. Kennedy Thompson received $21 million in 2007. He was succeeded by Robert Steel as CEO in July. Steel is slated to get a $1 million salary with an opportunity for a $12 million bonus, according to CEO Watch. Wachovia (NYSE: WB) is one of the banks that could be sold in the midst of the financial crisis.


Seattle-based Washington Mutual (NYSE: WAMU) will pay its new CEO, Alan Fishman, a salary and incentive package worth more than $20 million through 2009 for taking the helm of the battered bank, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.


CEOs of large U.S. corporations averaged $10.8 million in total compensation in 2006, more than 364 times the pay of the average U.S. worker, according to the latest survey by United for a Fair Economy. In 2007, the CEO of a Standard & Poor’s 500 company received, on average, $14.2 million in total compensation, according to The Corporate Library, a corporate governance research firm. The median compensation package received was $8.8 million.

Ari Melber Rocks

Ari is correct, of course. There is absolutely nothing wrong with going "negative" with political ads when they are factual. It's understandable that Joe Watkins, good little Repug drone that he is, would laugh since he obviously can't imagine such a concept coming from the McLiar campaign.

Saturday Morning Roundup

Obama's portrait done in LEGOs.

Biden: "I am sick and tired of this phoniness."
rAmen, brother!

Biden isn't the only one sick and tired of McCain/Palin phoniness lately:
—McCain loses the respect of long-time admirer and biographer.
—"I am one of the journalists accused over the years of being in the tank for McCain. Guilty."
—Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Maryland) endorses Barack Obama.
—Wick Allison, former supporter of Barry Goldwater and editor of the National Review says, "I now see that Obama is almost the ideal candidate for this moment in American history."

"Who Advises"

“You are interviewing the greatest free trader you will ever interview, and the greatest deregulator you will ever interview,” [McCain] said.

McCain is now for regulation. He must think we are a A Nation of Village Idiots.

Just in case it isn't abuntantly clear by now, McCain is Flunking Economics.

Let's see. A few hours have passed since McCain's last lie. Must be time for another!

-The ad claims Obama will raise taxes on electricity. He hasn't proposed any such tax. Obama does support a cap-and-trade policy that would raise the costs of electricity, but so does McCain.

-It falsely claims he would tax home heating oil. Actually, Obama proposed a rebate of up to $1,000 per family to defray increased heating oil costs, funded by what he calls a windfall profits tax on oil companies.

-The ad claims that Obama will tax "life savings." In fact, he would increase capital gains and dividends taxes only for couples earning more than $250,000 per year, or singles making $200,000. For the rest, taxes on investments would remain unchanged.

McCain has made much of a New York Post article that claims Obama improperly asked Iraqis to delay signing off on a "Status of Forces Agreement" until after the November election. Problem is, Undermining McCain Campaign Attack, Republicans Back Obama‘s Version of Meeting With Iraqi Leaders.

Troopergate takes a turn for the weird when Sarah Palin claims the reason she fired Public Safety Commissioner, Walt Monegan, was because he made an unauthorized trip to Washington, D.C. to lobby for funds for an anti-sexual-violence program. Apparently, this was "the last straw" in going against the Palin administration. No to an anti-sexual-violence program, but yes to a bridge to nowhere? Really?

Sarah Palin's Rape-Based Economy

.

A Very Important Endorsement

"Just tell the people that I am voting for Obama."



"I'm not tempted to write a song about George W. Bush. I couldn't figure out what sort of song I would write. That's the problem: I don't want to satirise George Bush and his puppeteers, I want to vaporise them."

Rachel Maddow's Ratings Surpass Olbermann's

Well, for one day they did. Still, yay for Rachel!



Rachel gets kudos even from Scarborough.

Thank you, Barack Obama!

"Plan for Change" Ad

McCain Will Take On the Old Boys' Network?!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!



To be fair, I suppose McCain could take on the "old boys' network" since he himself is a member of the old old old old old old old old old boys' network.

Heck. McCain is the old old old old old old old old old boys' network.

VOTE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT

True Leader from iocomposer on Vimeo.

Where's this "Maverick" I keep hearing about?

John McCain has simply surrounded himself with lobbyists.

And now he's tapped one to be a part of his transition team should he win?

I wonder what sort of people he'll recommend to McCain.

Joe Biden: John McCain says the Economy is Strong

"I could walk from here to Lansing and I wouldn't run into a single person who thought our economy was doing well. Unless I ran into John McCain."

John McCain is Unfit for Command

A fellow POW speaks out.


Doctors call on McCain to release his medical records.


This one bears repeating... McCain, the warmonger.

Teh Stoopid! It Hurts!

Tucker Bounds on Fox:

Setting aside Tucker's obvious deer-caught-in-the-headlights dissembling and evasion of the tax question for the moment, I want to focus on this little tidbit:

"If we're gonna take Barack Obama at his word for everything that he says he will do, the oceans will part —they will cease— the healing— the sick will become healed. They're all sorts of things that Barack Obama is claiming on this campaign."

I realize that there's a chance that low-information voters may be taken in by the McCain/Palin desperation campaign of lying (although, I have to wonder if it was a strategic blunder to begin it so early), but exactly how stupid do you have to be to believe the shit coming out of Tucker's mouth?

Lying Sack of Shit for President! Part II

John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies.
John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies.
John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies.
John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies.
John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies.
John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies.
John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies. John McCain lies.

Got it?

McCain Supports Child Abusers

Sarah Palin Speaks in Tongues

By Don Wright.

I :heart: Ari Melber

McCain Lies

... and lies and lies and lies.

Lipstick on that Pig

I am outraged —OUTRAGED— by that "lipstick on a pig" comment!


The voice of sanity: Barack Obama:

I Met a McCain/Palin Supporter Today

(A little background: I work in retail.)

So, one of my customers is starting a pile of things on the counter that she's going to buy. Another customer, a young woman with her husband (both probably in their twenties), walks up to the counter to make a purchase and, as I'm ringing her up, she picks up one of the items in the other customer's pile. It's an Obama action figure.

"What's this for?" she asks, voice lilting. "Slamming to the floor?"

I look at her. I notice her husband is smiling nervously and shifting from foot to foot.

"I mean," she continues, her voice nothing but sweetness, "I just pray for our country if he's elected."

At this point I should make a couple observations. First, it's not completely unheard of for someone to make a snide comment to me. They're having a bad day, we don't have something in stock they were looking for or they don't like the crinkled bill I gave them in change. The reasons and topics are endlessly varied. Usually I figure the comment is not directed at me, anyway and so I don't take it personally. I ignore it and the person gives me their money and leaves. But this woman was being deliberately provocative. Here she is, in a store with a captive audience and she is going to make the most of it. Secondly, I did not include below some of the side jibber-jabber from the husband, but little hints were dropped along the way about how much flack they've received from people in the city about the car they drive, comments they've endured about where they're from, how close-minded some people are to certain views, etc. Persecution complex all the way.

"Your total is $22.74," I say, ignoring her comment altogether. Then her dipshit husband chimes in. I guess I may have spoken a little quickly, or maybe there was a note of nervousness in my voice or maybe he was trying to diffuse the situation with his own brand of humor. I don't know.

"Oh, he's giving us the bum's rush!" he chuckles.

"That's the wonderful thing about this country, the freedom to speak your mind," she says.

I'm feeling very uncomfortable now. It's just not professional behavior for me to engage in this. Very inappropriate of her to do this, but now she senses blood in the water. So I agree, "Sure! You can believe whatever you want!" Then, attempting to address the "bum's rush" comment I say, "I'm sorry, were you still looking around? Take your time!"

"Do you have a McCain action figure?" she says.

I get asked this on occasion. I want to say no, but I have an idea for one. It would be poseable so you could put it into stress positions and it comes with a little metal box that you can put Johnny into if he's bad, with "Hanoi Hilton" stenciled on the side. What's the matter? I imagine asking. You don't find that funny? I don't either, but this administration claims that nothing McCain went through as a POW could be considered torture, so it must be he simply sat out the Vietnam war being pampered by his North Vietnamese hosts, right?

But instead I say, "No. He's not as popular." However, at this point I've finally had it with this woman who still hasn't made a move to pay me. "All I know is, if McCain is elected, I'm leaving the country."

"Oh now," says the jovial dunderhead husband, looking definitely uncomfortable, "I bet if we come back in a few months, we'll still find you here."

The woman has finally handed me her credit card. "Well, that's what I'm hoping for. I don't want to live in a country that's been taken over by the religious right."

Wrong. Thing. To. Say.

The woman's eyes light up. "Well, why do you think they wrote so much about God in the Constitution?"

"God is not mentioned once in the Constitution. Sign here."

"It's on all our money."

"That was added almost a century after the birth of the nation. " *

Then, oddly, she revisited the "freedom of speech" motif. "Isn't it great that we have freedom to speak our minds? I'm going to pray for you. Is that all right if I pray for your soul?" It was framed as a question but delivered as a threat.

"You can do and say whatever you want. Just make sure you have your facts straight, first."

"Ohhhhhhhh....ho ho ho ho ho..." intoned the eunuch by her side. "Okay, bye then."

"Bye. Have a nice day. Hope you change your mind."

"Not likely," she sneered as she scooped up her bag and made for the door.

"I'm pro-life."

________________

Coda:

Customer A, the one who was buying the Obama action figure, said that she was really impressed with the way I handled the situation.

I can tell you that the next encounter with such an ignoramus who thinks that because I have nowhere to go s/he can say whatever s/he wants will not be so civil. This was a game-changer. I have never encountered anything like this in fifteen years in retail. Even four years ago when we sold a dozen styles of anti-Bush magnet and the "Smush Bush" stress toy, Bush supporters would generally just roll their eyes and laugh it off.

It's as if Sarah Palin has emboldened these knuckleheaded Neanderthals to go into the world and do "god's work" even if that means pinning the salesperson behind the counter while simultaneously provoking attacks and acting like the victim.

I can just imagine those two going back to their trailer park and telling the neighboring shut-ins about their harrowing experiences in the big city and how horribly rude everyone there is.

The next time someone asks if they can pray for me, I'm going to ask them to devote an entire day to the activity. November 4th. Don't even leave the house, just pray for me all day, 'cause that's what it's gonna take, baby.

I was amazed that the woman even completed her transaction. Especially after I suggested she might want to make sure she get her facts straight.
________________

*IN GOD WE TRUST first appeared on the 1864 two-cent coin.

IN GOD WE TRUST was first used on paper money in 1957, when it appeared on the one-dollar silver certificate.

Lying Sack of Shit for President!

FromFactcheck.org:

With its latest ad, released Sept. 10, the McCain-Palin campaign has altered our message in a fashion we consider less than honest. The ad strives to convey the message that FactCheck.org said "completely false" attacks on Gov. Sarah Palin had come from Sen. Barack Obama. We said no such thing. We have yet to dispute any claim from the Obama campaign about Palin.

Hmmmm. John McCain is "less than honest." Seems like there's another name for that.

Oh yeah — LIAR!

On a related note, how's that Iraq War going, Senator McLiar?

A Question of Judgement Part 2

You do know that McCain is in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade, right?

That's nuthin'.

Monday Evening Notes

No Maverick


Maverick to Nowhere


Documenting the number of times McSame and Palinsanity LIE about her support of the bridge to nowhere at Lies to Nowhere.

Palin's Church Promotes Conversion Of Gays

And on a related note, Sarah Palin's 9 Most Disturbing Beliefs

Palin for President!

Not vice president, president!

Factchecking McSame

From FactCheck.org:

We checked the accuracy of McCain’s speech accepting the Republican nomination and noted the following:

• McCain claimed that Obama’s health care plan would "force small businesses to cut jobs" and would put "a bureaucrat ... between you and your doctor." In fact, the plan exempts small businesses, and those who have insurance now could keep the coverage they have.



• McCain attacked Obama for voting for "corporate welfare" for oil companies. In fact, the bill Obama voted for raised taxes on oil companies by $300 million over 11 years while providing $5.8 billion in subsidies for renewable energy, energy efficiency and alternative fuels.



• McCain said oil imports send "$700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much." But the U.S. is on track to import a total of only $536 billion worth of oil at current prices, and close to a third of that comes from Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.



• He promised to increase use of "wind, tide [and] solar" energy, though his actual energy plan contains no new money for renewable energy. He has said elsewhere that renewable sources won’t produce as much as people think.



• He called for "reducing government spending and getting rid of failed programs," but as in the past failed to cite a single program that he would eliminate or reduce.



• He said Obama would "close" markets to trade. In fact, Obama, though he once said he wanted to "renegotiate" the North American Free Trade Agreement, now says he simply wants to try to strengthen environmental and labor provisions in it.

In other news, the RNC was Barack Rolled!

Community Service

The Daily Show

This may have been the best episode ever.

A Question of Judgement

The Daily Show Skewers Right-wing Pundits

A Sarah Palin Roundup

A list, before I lose it all in the next tsunami of Sarah Palin crazy to wash over us...in no particular order...

Sarah Palin doesn't know what the VP does (video):


Karl Rove chimes in on the importance of experience (video):


8 More Shocking Revelations About Sarah Palin

Watch McCain aide Tucker Bounds squirm when asked about Palin's national security experience

Palin wants creationism taught in schools

A Wasilla resident reports on Palin's performance as mayor and governor

Sarah Palin: Pork Hoover

McCain Didn't Even Know Palin Before Picking Her (Video):



Palin subsidizes a failing dairy:

But while Dairygate looks definitely sleazy to me, maybe I’m taking a parochial, Lower 48 view. To an Alaskan, what Sarah Palin did just looks like an innovation in fiscal management. After all, what happened here, aside from a little deception, insider-dealing and rank hypocrisy?

A failing state-run enterprise supported by Alaskan taxpayers ends up reborn as a private enterprise, run by a struggling local businessman and subsidized by Federal taxpayers.

To the locals, what a win/win: why should Alaskans have to support the local dairy farmers that bring them fresh milk and cheese, after all, when they have Uncle Ted and Uncle Don (and Aunt Sarah) around to make sure Uncle Sam picks up the tab?

Palin's scary policy statements from her run for governor including her vehemently anti-gay stance and this hilarious tidbit:

11. Are you offended by the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

SP: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I'll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.

Sarah Palin and the Alaskan Independence Party (video):


Finally, a little humor.

Sarah Palin pregnancy decision map

McCain's Voice Mail to Palin Leaked to Press

I took my idea from below and tweeked it a little...



______________________________________________________

Update:Some truth vs fiction in Palin's convention speech.

Some Mic it Hot

Transcript of hot-mic snafu with Peggy Noonan, Chuck Todd, Mike Murphy:

Murphy: Um, you know, because, I come out of the blue swing state governor world. Engler, Whitman, Tommy Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, I mean, and these guys, this is all how you win a Texas race, just run it up, and it's not gonna work.

Noonan: It's Over.

Murphy: Still, McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech and do himself some good.

Todd: ...insulting to Kay Baily Hutchinson...

Noonan: Saw Kay this morning.

Todd: She's never looked comfortable up there...

Murphy: Oh, fuck that.

Todd: I mean, is she really the most qualified woman they can obtain?

Noonan: The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political bullshit about narratives... [inaudible]

Todd: Yeah, but what's a narrative?

Murphy: I totally agree.

Noonan: Every time Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it.

Murphy: You know what's the worst thing about it, the greatest of McCain is no cynicism, and...

Murphy and Todd together: This is cynical.

Todd: And as you called it, gimmicky.

New Plank for GOP Platform Unveiled

Abstinence Mostly Education